Magic Johnson is setting the bar high for the high-priced and superstar-heavy Los Angeles Dodgers, of whom he is a part owner.

"We want to go to the World Series. If we don't accomplish that, yes, it is not a good season for us," Johnson told the Los Angeles Times. "Guys should be saying that. As the ownership group, that is what we are saying."

The ownership group certainly has put its money where its mouth is, assembling the largest payroll in the history of baseball. After acquiring the likes of Hanley Ramirez, Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford last summer, the Dodgers signed free-agent righthander Zack Greinke to a mega-deal this offseason. Already in place was a core that included Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw and Andre Ethier.

But will it be enough to overtake the rival San Francisco Giants, the defending World Series champions?

“What separates us from the Giants, really? We have just as much talent now. We have upgraded our pitching staff. I felt their pitching staff last year was better than ours,” Johnson told the newspaper. “But the other main ingredient that we don't have that we must get is that one of these guys has got to emerge as a real captain who can lead us, especially in August and September, when it gets to be tough, hot, and we've got to grind it out."

Johnson added that he knows the Dodgers have a target on their back because of their spending, but he believes that should be the case with a big-market franchise.

"It comes with the territory. You can't run from it,” Johnson told the Los Angeles Times. “We're excited. I know there is a target on our back. We have to embrace it and say, 'OK, we're going to live up to it.’ ”